The Bet
by zoejanssen
Summary: Four is recently single, and has a bet with his friends that he can convince a woman to marry him within three months. Tris, who is also recently single and has sworn off of serious relationships for the time being, is the target of his bet. But what will happen when Four finds himself genuinely falling for Tris?
1. Chapter One

**CHAPTER ONE **

TRIS POV

"I love you so much, and I knew from the start that we were meant to be together forever. So, Tris Prior, the love of my life, will you marry me?" he asks.

I can't tell him yes, because I don't feel the same way he does, even though I wish I did. He's such a nice guy—but he's not the one for me. He deserves someone who is going to love him just as much as he does, and that person isn't me.

I look down at his smiling, hopeful face, and I almost can't do it. But I know it's better to break his heart now than at the wedding or after we're already married.

I take a deep breath and shake my head sadly.

"I'm so sorry, but I can't marry you. You're a great guy and I don't deserve you…you deserve a girl who loves you as much as you love her. And I'm really, really sorry, but that girl isn't me. You're amazing though, and I'm sure you'll find her someday. Goodbye, maybe I'll see you around town? I hope things won't be awkward between us." I give him a final hug and kiss, then I pick up my coat and purse and leave his apartment.

At least he didn't propose somewhere in public. It would have taken a lot more strength for me to say no when there were people cheering him on and such. And I still feel like an awful, terrible, horrible person. Honestly, what's wrong with me? He is such a nice and amazing guy, yet I don't regret the choice I just made. Somehow, somewhere deep inside of me knew it was the right thing to do. Better now than when we're engaged, or even married. That would be worse, I think.

As I walk back to my apartment—it's only a few blocks away from his, which probably does mean that I'll be seeing him around—a couple of tears roll down my cheeks. I could probably apologize for eternity, and I still wouldn't feel satisfied. But I wholeheartedly agree with everything I just said. I don't believe that we are meant for each other, I don't think that he is the one for me or I am the one for him. I reach my apartment building and I take the elevator up to the sixth floor, where I share an apartment with two of my best friends.

Great, now I have to face them too and become a horrible person all over again. I take a deep breath and unlock the door. I walk into our loft to find the two of them on the couch, snuggled up and watching a movie. When they hear the door, they pause the movie and look up.

"How was date night?" Christina, my best friend since forever, asks excitedly. I shake my head and start crying. Leaving my coat and purse on the kitchen table, I walk over to the couch in the living room and lay my head on Chris' stomach and she strokes my hair.

"Oh no, baby, what happened?" Chris asks worriedly.

"He proposed," I manage to say between tears. Chris looks confused.

"And this is a thing to cry about because…" Chris prompts.

"He proposed, and I said no," I sob.

"Oh my god. Okay. Will, get out," Christina instructs, kicking her boyfriend off of the couch (both literally and figuratively).

All of us are 22 and just out of college, and technically this is my loft but since neither Chris nor Will makes enough money to have their own, I let them room with me and they help out with the rent. Sometimes. Chris just graduated as an art major from NYU, and now she got a job as a tattoo artist with my aunt (she's not really aunt, technically she's just a family friend but she's like family to me). But being a tattoo artist, especially a part time tattoo artist doesn't pay much.

Will has just graduated from Cornell with a degree in prelaw. He's taking a year break before going to graduate school somewhere to become a lawyer. So he doesn't have much of an income either, as he is an unpaid intern at some law firm here in the city for the time being.

I just graduated from Williams College, a small liberal arts school in rural Massachusetts. Although they don't have a premed major, I took enough classes to qualify me for medical school, and now I'm a graduate student at Columbia University here in the city. I hope to become a physical therapist, or a sports doctor, that type of thing. I'm not entirely sure yet, as it's November and therefore I'm still in my first semester of medical school. So technically, I don't have a full time job or an income either, but pretty much I'm the one with the richest parents, the only ones who can afford to pay for a decently sized loft in Brooklyn.

Chris tries to console me, she says that we can eat tubs of ice cream and watch rom-coms together and just cry together all night. It's really nice of her to offer, but we both know that I'm not that type of person. Plus, I'm lactose intolerant so eating ice cream makes me really, really sick.

I decide to go for a run, because that always calms and relaxes me and clears my head. When I mention this to Chris, she objects, saying that it's too dark and late. I'm stubborn though, and eventually she agrees. I go to my room to change out to swap my nice dress for Nike leggings, a Nike hoodie over a running t-shirt, and sock and running shoes. I quickly pull my hair back into a high ponytail and put on a pre-wrap headband to keep my hair out of my face. Finally, I wash all the makeup off of my face, and grab my running watch, my armband and my phone.

"Bye!" I call out to Chris and Will, who have resumed their previous activity of watching a movie on the couch.

FOUR POV

*A COUPLE DAYS LATER*

I sit around the table with a couple of my best friends, Uriah, Zeke and Noah. We do this every week, play poker and talk about our lives. We're all pretty much too busy to get together any other time during the week, except for sometimes on the weekends. All the other guys have busy jobs, along with wives and families. Uriah and Zeke are brothers and they're both married, Uriah to Marlene and Zeke to Shauna. Uriah and Marlene have a little two-year-old boy named Jack, and Shauna and Zeke are expecting as well. Noah is engaged to Lotte, which leaves me, the awkward, single one.

Technically, actually, I wasn't single until a couple of days ago. A couple of days ago, I was supposed to get married to Jessie, but on the day of the wedding, she fled in the middle of the ceremony. She said that I wasn't the 'one'.

"What the hell is that even supposed to mean, I'm not the one?" I ask as Zeke deals out cards.

"It means that you're not marriage material, dude," Uriah says matter-of-factly, as if it's obvious.

"What?" I ask, thoroughly confused.

"You're not the type of guy that girls get married to, or settle down with. You're the guy that girls date before they get married," Zeke explains.

"None of you guys are marriage material, then either," I protest.

"That's where you're wrong, Four. None of us _used_ to be marriage material. But then, we met the one, and we changed," Noah says.

"So really, dude, you're lucky that Jessie ran away," Uriah says, trying to be helpful but failing.

"Yeah, if she says you aren't the one for her, then she isn't the one for you. You're lucky that one of you realized it before you were legally bound together by law. Now let's play some poker," Zeke agrees.

"But I am marriage material," I protest, still not letting the topic go.

"No, you aren't," Uriah insists.

"I bet you couldn't propose to a girl and get her to say yes," Zeke says, "because you're not marriage material."

"Is that a bet?" I challenge. Zeke looks up from his cards and glances at Uriah and Noah. They seem to both agree.

"Okay then. It's a bet. You have…three months to get a girl to fall in love with you and say yes to your marriage proposal. If you win, we'll pay for your honeymoon to the location of your choice. If you lose the bet, you owe each of us three hundred dollars," Zeke says.

"Fine. Bet is on. But I get to choose the girl," I reply, and we shake on it.


	2. Chapter Two

**CHAPTER TWO**

FOUR POV

*A COUPLE DAYS LATER*

Today is Saturday, which means it's the day where the guys and I take a walk in Central Park together. As of now, it's only Zeke, Uriah, Noah, Jack, and I. Uriah is pushing Jack in his stroller as the rest of us walk beside them. It's been a few days since the bet was made, and I still haven't found a girl yet. But, as they say, good things take time. Time, though, is not something that I have a lot of. The guys only gave me three months to get a girl to fall in love with me and accept my marriage proposal. _Three months!_ It's November now, which only gives me until February.

"Hey, Four, you found a girl yet?" Zeke asks, even though he already knows the answer.

I glare at him and reply with a cold, sharp "No."

"Better find one soon. Time is-a-ticking," Uriah says, and makes a tick-tock sound. I playfully punch him.

"Seriously though. You should find one probably today. Maybe now," Noah suggests. I sigh—they clearly are not going to let this go.

"Here? Now? On a Saturday morning in Central Park?" I protest.

Zeke shrugs. "Sure, why not? There are eight million people in this city, and a lot of crazy people too. What more public place is there than Central Park?"

"Fine," I give in reluctantly. The next couple minutes are spent by the guys pointing out random women around the park, and me refusing every one of them for some reason or another. Then, I spot one. Possibly _the_ one. In the somewhat near distance, I spot a girl running. She's not one of those girls that just jogs, this girl is a real runner. She has impeccable form and a beautiful stride. And even though she's far enough away that I can't see her face, I can tell she is beautiful.

"Hey guys, what about that one?" I ask, discreetly gesturing to the running girl. They all mumble their approval and then Uriah asks, "So that's it? She's the one?"

"Yup," I reply, sure of it. As she nears closer, I begin to examine her more. She is naturally beautiful, not one of those girls who need a shit ton of makeup and surgeries and such to look beautiful. She has long, dirty blonde hair that is pulled up into a high ponytail. It's also evident that she is very fit, as she is keeping an impressive pace. She's wearing running tights and a long sleeve t-shirt. Luckily, she's not wearing gloves, and she doesn't have either a wedding ring or an engagement ring on her finger.

Then I realize a fault in my plan—not that I had much of one anyway, but still—how will I talk to her if she's running. I better come up with a plan fast, because she's nearing where the guys and I are standing. Fortunately, I'm wearing shorts, a hoodie, and sneakers, so I can run but I wonder if I'll be able to keep up with her pace, and talk to her at the same time.

I can't think of any other way, though, so I quickly bid goodbye to the guys and start running. I purposely slow a little bit so that she'll catch up with me, since I started ahead of her. She does, and I speed up again so that our strides are matched.

"Hi. I'm Four," I say, and stick out my hand. I immediately regret this, for many reasons. One, if a stranger came up and randomly started running with and talking to me, I'd be extremely creeped out. Two, she probably wouldn't want to shake my hand, for other reasons than be being a perfect stranger—she was in the middle of running and probably didn't want to move her arm from its running motion. But she surprises me.

"Hey. I'm Tris," She replies, and quickly shakes my hand before returning it to the back-and-forth motion of running. There is a slight awkward silence, as I can't think of anything else to say and she probably doesn't want to talk to me in the first place. Yet again, though, she surprises me.

"So is there any reason you didn't start running until I came near, and then you slowed down so that I would reach you, and then you sped up again to keep up with me?" She asks.

Damn, she is observant. Now I have to think of something smart to say that won't make her think of me as a complete creep.

"Actually, I was walking in the park with my friends when I noticed you running, and I happen to be looking for a running partner, because even though running clears my head sometimes it can be lonely," I awkwardly explain. I think that was okay, it did the job although it still makes the situation awkward. And even though the first part about me looking for a running partner isn't true, the second part is—running is relaxing and all, but sometimes it can be lonely just running through a busy city all by yourself.

"Really? Running is the same for me. It's like when I run, all my problems are gone, but at the same time I sometimes feel all alone. Especially running in a place like here, I'm constantly surrounded by tons of people yet I'm still by myself. It's hard to explain…you probably think I'm crazy. How could one be lonely in a place like New York City? Sorry. I'm rambling…" She says, and laughs at herself.

I laugh too—not at her but with her. She is completely…adorable. I never use that word but that's the only word I can think of to describe her.

"No, I get you. Running here in the city can be lonely despite all the people around. It's like…there are people there, but they're just passing faces to you. They don't fill the loneliness just because they're there. You need people that you know to fill the loneliness. And that, is in part, why I'm looking for a running partner," I say. Even though this whole thing started from a lie, and is because of a bet, what I'm saying is from my heart. I'm saying things I believe because I believe them, and I feel a connection to her. I feel like she gets me. This whole time we were talking, I didn't even notice that I was running. It just felt like a normal conversation with a normal person. But we were running—at a pace much faster than my usual one—and she is definitely not a normal person. Suddenly, this has become about so much more than a bet.

"Sure," She says, suddenly breaking the silence of the past couple minutes.

"Sure, what?" I ask, confused.

"Sure, I'll be your running partner. Somehow, running is more fun when you have someone next to you to talk to, and I never realized that until just now. Race you to the end of the path?" She replies. I grin and nod.

"Ready, set, go!" I exclaim, and we both start to sprint. She beats me, and I'm not the least bit surprised, it being miraculous in itself that I managed to keep up with her this whole time. Suddenly, we have left the comparative calmness of Central Park and we are back on the crowded streets of Manhattan, absorbed in all the hustle and bustle of New York City. She puts her phone number and email address into my phone, then says goodbye and leaves me standing there. I am completely amazed by this girl. I'm not exactly sure what just happened, but the one thing I do know for sure is that my legs are going to be extremely, painfully sore tomorrow morning.

I call up Zeke, the guys are probably done with their walk now and are most likely back at my apartment, hiding from their wives/fiancés.

Zeke picks up on the second ring, and answers with "Hey dude. What's up? How did the run go?"

"It was great. She's…amazing. Tell Uriah and Noah that I found the girl."

TRIS POV

After putting my contact information into Four's phone, I head back towards the subway station. On the subway, I collect my thoughts. I don't know much about Four yet, but he seemed nice and funny, although a little weird at first. I do know that he'll be a good running partner though, he was able to keep up with my pace throughout our whole conversation. I can't wait to run with him again sometime, hopefully soon.


End file.
